Our Story
Who ist this women Esther Jordi?
Nobody knows her. How should we? She was always in the background. Let's look back a bit into the past. In the beginning there was the word Footballtennis. Everyone knows that means playing tennis with your feet.
On February 7th, 1987, the International Football-Tennis Association IFTA was founded in the Hotel Continental in Switzerland. In the background Esther Jordi as the first elected general secretary for this association. Nobody said that we had invented something completely new. No for sure, Footballtennis is nothing new. Via the Swiss embassies abroad, we asked quite officially what was already being done around the world.
The result was a great success. The game is known everywhere in the world. Of course, in Brazil, a little differently than in Asia. And certainly everywhere where football is played, there is a game, where a ball is played over the cord. What really was new was, that we developed global rules with a technical commission so that official world championships could take place, one day. No problem for doubles and triples.
And there was a big dream that there should also be a singles game like we know it in the strong Tennis world. Everything that is possible in Tennis, we also should do in Footballtennis. An exciting game. Man against man, with prize money and why not also with Grand Slam Tournaments. You have to imagine that we have very successfully organized on the beginning, world record attempts for the Gunness Book of Records. We organized Swiss football juggling championships just that we had the most skilful football players available to set up these interesting rules for the single matches. We were able to publish a small booklet with the Ringier publishing house in Switzerland. With the exciting title; Fussballtennis, ein Sport für den gentleman Fussballer.
The multilingual Esther Jordi was there from the beginning and without her, we know it, we would hardly have World Championships and European Championships, next to the doubles and triples, the single game today.
Annual Congresses, international Tournaments, European Championships and World Championships. As the Secretary-General, she prepared so many meetings. With open eyes and ears. Always ready to solve problems. The highlights were congresses in Munich, in Austria at the Casino Velden, but also several meetings in Lausanne in the Olympic Museum. We felt at home in Lausanne, the capital of Olympia. Contacts with the IOC were very friendly.
Resignation after the goals of World Championships in Brazil have been achieved. With my resignation as the IFTA president, due to important work in the Swiss health care system, Esther did follow me with her resignation. The goals with the World Championships in Brazil were achieved. The pioneering phase was done. We were dismissed with the highest honors. I am as the Honorary President and Esther as Honorary Member. A big day for Footballtennis. Vladimir Masat from Czech Republic, was elected as the new President. He was many years Vice President and he led the Technical Commission very successful at our international level. Great, because the largest Footballtennis country, the Czech Republic, took now the seriouse responsibility. Indeed the best that could happen for Footballennis.
Good to know, the transfer of the presidency from Switzerland to the Czech Republic took also place at the great Olympic location.in Lausanne. The new sport Footballtennis could start in a great future and Esther and I promised to help from outside wherever possible. The history of Footballtennis took its course. World Championships and European Championships alternated every year. Presidents did come and go. Everything worked perfectly until the big shock. There were differences between the associations. serious differences. Cooperation seemed no longer possible and some strong countries have left and founded a new International federation, UNIF (Union Internationale de Futnet).
But such a pity, nobody could prevent the separation. Of course we (Esther and me) did come back to Footballtennis immediately. We wanted to help, in the background we thought that the split could also have its good side. If both sides can show how good they are, the sport should be much bigger when they reunited again. A clear situation. And because our health projects in politics and business in Switzerland took up also a lot of time, there was very little time for Footballtennis in this time. We asked for a reunion as soon as possible. Unfortunately it wasn't possible. Everything was blocked by UNIF. Nobody knew why. We knew, it would take patience and one day the global Footballtennis family will be reunited.
Esther Jordi was diagnosed with cancer. During this very busy time the illness demanded more and more time. After three years of hope. Esther Jordi passed away on September 9th, 2018. A big funeral in Lengnau showed how popular she was. The great sympathy on site, throughout Switzerland and all over der World was impressive. The Czech Futnet Association summed it up for all of us with a dignified wreath. Thank you Esther for everything, we will never forget... Esther Jordi made her last big appearance at the European Footballtennis Championships in Bucharest in November 2017. An impressive performance with an oxygen device on her back won everyone's heart, especially the Romanians.
The Esther Jordi Trophy, should always remind us of our Esther
Esther Jordi passed away on September 9th, 2018 and only three months later we organized the first Esther Jordi Trophy. The intention was clear. The largest Tennis tournament in Switzerland, the Swiss Indoors, takes place at the end of October every year. This means that after the Tennis world is in Basel, the following weekend must be our Footballtennis Tournament. The game is played like the Tennis Master. The best 8 women and 8 best men's players are invited for this trophy. Of course we invited players from all over the world. Completely neutral, so that even the quarreling associations could register their best players. Esther's first tournament was a great success. Anyone who could come was there in Basel. It's good to see that Esther is important to come to Basel. Even there was only to win a silver plate with a picture of Esther.
The first winners are already small stars
Women Singles Tournament
Nr. 1 Anamaria Gherghel, Romania
Nr. 2 Florina Chiar, Romania
Nr. 3 Ayse Mullacuma, Cyprus
Nr. 4 Camilla Friberg, Denmark
Nr. 5 Ana Maria Rizescu, Romania
Nr. 6 Hana Pappova, Slovakia
Nr. 7 Amandine Riou, France
Nr. 8 Anna Friberg, Denmark
Men's Singles Tournament
Nr. 1 Razvan Vornicu, Romania
Nr. 2 Norbert Varo, Romania
Nr. 3 Alexandru Serghi, Moldavia
Nr. 4 Ilinka Nicusor, Romania
Nr. 5 Jean-Marc Nginn, France
Nr. 6 Roland Guillod, Switzerland
Nr. 7 Christoph Guillod, Switzerland
Nr. 8 Andrei Serghi, Moldavia
And this was the Program
1st Esther Jordi Trophy 2018 in Basel 3th to 5th Nov 2018.
Saturday, Nov. 3rd, 2018 arrival
3.00 pm Sightseeing St. Jakobspark (FC Basel Stadium, incl. Media Center)
5.00 pm visit St. Jakobshalle (Swiss Indoor Tennis)
Free disposal Basel sightseeing
All public transport is available free of charge (just get in and then find your way back to
the hotel again
7.00 pm Dinner at Das BreiteHotel
9.00 pm Draw of the pairings in our Hotel
Sunday, Nov. 4th, 2018
10.00 am Workshop in the Bäumliallee Hall
Key note speaker Success in the exciting world of sport
Göran Andersson, sports teacher Sweden
Theoretical and practical part
10 points program for success
Lunch in the hall
1.00 pm Matches around the Esther Jordi Trophy
Celebrity Demo Shakehand Football and Tennis wherever possible
Afterwards Open to play Demo Double and Triple
5.00 pm Finals Single Women and Men Esther Jordi Trophy 2018
Winners Ceremony
Free evening, explore Basel
Monday 5 Nov 2018
10.30 am Apero, media conference in the press center of FC Basels
Project start-up aid 5 years. Possibilities outlook and goals
(professionalization through prize money)
Departure of the participants. End of the program
We were proud that everything worked out perfectly. we had every reason to thank everyone who
participated so wonderful
- Basel location marketing, Mr. Marcel Meier
- Tourism Basel, Mr. Jean Claude Sass
- Sports Office Basel, Mr. Sandro Penta, Vincenzo Capizzi, Mario Burger
- FC Basel, Ms. Julia Wüest, Karli Odermatt
- St.Jakobshalle Basel, Christian Casulli
- Footballtennis club Basel, Bruno Grossenbacher and team
- DasBreiteHotel, Mrs. Voegeli
- Swiss SME Association Medinekonferenz Roland Rupp
- The company Caleb-Vision, website Thomy Beckmann
- Catering service Hans and Beat Guldimann
- FiFTA (International Football-Tennis Federation) Frederico Tavares
- Players final 8 women and 8 men
First of all the world champions Anamaria Gherghel (women) and Razvan Vornicu (men)
- FIFTA referees
- Delegates and guests from all over the world
- GCS for administration
- And also the many other warm recognitions
The end of the 1st Esther Jordi Trophy marked the start of the 2nd Esther Jordi Trophy. The good can be kept and everything else can be improved. Two points should be new. First, because the 8 best women and 8 best men should be fixed, there must be seriouse qualifications before the Tournament. Every player in the world should have the chance to take part in this final. Second, we need prize money, like in tennis. Without prize money there are no professionals. And with the stars the quality of the game will come. 10'000 CHF. we were allowed to use. It is Esther's pension that I was able to use for this. All 8 finalists earn money with football tennis for the first time. The aim must be 100’000.- Sfr.
For the second edition we also changed from the small Bäumle Gymnasium hall to the nice Pfaffenholz hall in Basel. We had first time a media partner. The big Newspaper Blick and were pleased that we were able to print tickets for 1000 spectators through the Ticketcorner. The qualification was a first attempt. We also had to have a seeded list. The winners of the first edition have to be seeded. The result was, the men's qualification meant that nobody from France was in the final. Sad, yes, but sport has to be sport. It's also a pity that no one from Switzerland wandet to fightfor the prize money and the nice trophies in the grand final. Interested players from overseas Canada, Brazil and Mexico were not there either. But the important thing is those who were there with heart and soul had been succesful. The competition was at a very high level. No one without training could make it into the finals, for sure. At the women's competition was Gherghel Anamaria from Romania the real star. As a title defender, she dominated the 2nd Esther Jordi Trophy. On the sporting level, it was a pity that the women's seeded players couldn't come.
This meant that other players could not move up. Too bad. In the men's competition there was a direct comparison between the best present player from Slovakia Stupak Ladislav and the last year's winner from Romania, Razvan Vornicu. Exciting games and the first signs that players outside of FIFTA also have a chance of winning the prize money. Great sport and lots of fun. The second Esther Jordi Trophy was a great success again.
Results 2nd Esther Jordi Trophy 2019 2nd/3rd November 2019 in Basel Switzerland
Women singles tournament
No. 1 Gherghel Anamaria Romania
No. 2 Rizescu Ana Maria Romania
No. 3 Riou Amandine France
No. 4 Friberg Anna Denmark
No. 5 Chiar Florina Romania
Mullacuma Ayse Cyprus
Janosikova Diana Slovakia
Nurtunç Makbule Cyprus
Men's Singles Tournament
No. 1 Stupak Ladislav Slovakia
No. 2 Razvan Vornicu Romania
No. 3 Varo Norbert Romania
No. 4 Nicusor Ilinka Romania
No. 5 Friberg Hendrik Denmark
No. 6 Norring Christian Denmark
No. 7 Sager Mario Switzerland
No. 8 Madaras Roland Denmark
In addition to professional photos, there is also a very informative film document available We are proud about this second edigtion because everything worked out perfectly again. And you see in the following list, our partners have given us even more support. Thank you very much.
- The location marketing Basel, Mr. Marcel Meier
- Basel Tourism, Mr. Julian Fischer
- The Basel Sports Office, Steve Beutler, Vincenzo Capizzi, Mario Burger, Michel Kappler
- FC Basel, Mrs. Pascale Dueblin, Karli Odermatt
- The FiFTA (International Football-Tennis Association) Frederico Tavares
- The Football-Tennis Club Basel, Bruno Grossenbacher and Team
- The DasBreiteHotel, Martina Voegeli
- The Kneipp Club Basel, Dotortee Siefert
- The Samaritan Association Riehen, Ruth Stähli
- The company Caleb-Vision, Internet, IT, Communication Moderation Thomy Beckmann
- The catering service Hans and Beat Guldimann
- The media partner Blick, Tatiana Schwarz
- The ticket corner, Leo Gasevic
- The regional television station TV Plus, Daniel Wittlin
- The Bieler Tagblatt Bernhard Rentsch and Patric Schindler
- The media group Offenbach Post Sebastian Conradt and team
- The players, qualification and final First of all the Trophy winners 2019 Anamaria Gherghel
(women) and Ladislav Stupak (men)
- The real strong referees
- The whole staff under Kurt Rothenfluh, Grit Brockmann, Sherif Gafar and Fidel Grüninger
- The delegates and guests from all over the world
- The GCS for the administration,
We were looking forward to the 3rd Esther Jordi Trophy, we wanted to keep improving. The event keeps getting bigger. We formed a club to support the idea. A club, called the Eshter Jordi Trophy, with statutes and a board of responsible directors. President Josef Rothenfluh, Secretary Grit Brockmann, Treasurer Thomy Beckmann and Assistant Special Tasks Sherif Gaafar A foundation that gives security.
Then Corona came. We did everything to play the tournament in Basel. We have created protection concepts for the city government. We tried to fulfill all conditions. With the Friendship games, we proved that we have organizationally everything under control. Football legends love to play Footballtennis. On Saturday, July 18th 2020, the games took place in the Pfaffenholz sports hall. Former Swiss national team players Philipp Degen, Andi Egli and Marc Hottiger played a roundrobin tournament with our Swiss No 1 player Mario Sager. Blick TV produced a great film document.
Exciting games and everyone had lot of fun. Time passed and we had the perfect protection concept for the 3rd Esther Jordi Trophy. It costs time, money and nerves. See the big job we had done.
Protection concept Esther Jordi Trophy November 22, 2020
Venue: Basel school building Schoren, sports hall 1st Introduction
The Esther Jordi Trophy will be held in a reduced form this year. It takes place without an audience. Only 8 women and 8 men take part. The accompanying staff is reduced to a minimum. The players travel unaccompanied. Exception is 1 trainer. There is no catering option. Thus, the number of people is limited to 16 players and their coaches. And 3 referees. In addition, the staff of the Esther Jordi Trophy association will be involved in order to be able to carry out the event and in particular the protection concept. In addition, the press representatives who have registered will be there.
2nd Hygiene measures and distance regulations
The hygiene and distance rules of the Federal Office of Public Health and the cantonal authorities must be observed. Only healthy and symptom-free in the hall. During the registration process, the participants declare that they assume liability for any claims for damages if they act with gross negligence in relation to the BAG regulations, for example by knowingly disregarding official instructions that affect them personally. The distance must be maintained in front of and in the hall. Masks are compulsory throughout the facility. The players wear the mask to the pitch. At the edge of the field there is a bucket with a hinged lid in which the player can dispose of his mask. After the game, he can grab a new mask and disinfect his hands in the same place. The mask is changed every time. The cloakrooms are identified by name and there are always only 4 players in a cloakroom. When showering, there are a maximum of 2 people in the shower room. When greeting and cheering, there is no physical contact whatsoever. This applies to everyone in the hall. You cough into a handkerchief or the crook of your arm. Hands are regularly washed with soap or disinfected. It is recommended that you carry your own disinfectant spray The entrance and exit will be marked and will be manned by organizer staff throughout the tournament. Only people who have previously registered electronically will be admitted. This also applies to press representatives. There is a maximum of 2 people in the toilets.
3rd Collection of Contact Information
The contact details are recorded electronically on the website. The following data is recorded: First name Name Residence E-mail Mobile number The email address is verified by an electronic process. The mobile number is also checked using WhatsApp. Only those who go through both processes are considered registered. This applies to everyone who is in the hall on November 22nd. Registration must be made 5 days before the event. Spontaneous participation or visits are not possible. The data is stored for up to 14 days after the event. The contact details may only be used for contact racing.
4th Compliance with the protection concept and information
The protection concept will be emailed to everyone who has successfully completed the registration process. It is assumed that it is read and known.
5th Instructions from staff The instructions of the staff must be followed.
The staff has the authority to impose sanctions and also to expel registered persons.
6th Validity
This concept is valid on November 22, 2020.
Lengnau, October 20, 2020
Josef Rothenfluh, president
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Nobody, except Footballtennis, pays for the effort. But two weeks before the tournament, the city of Basel closed the halls because of Corona. There's nothing you can do about. But we could already look forward to the Esther Jordi Trophy 2021. We were all very happy about the offer to come to Romania with the Esther Jordi Trophy. What a wonderful well know place, with the Olympic Complex in Izvorani. I was already there.
The 3rd and 4th editions of the Esther Jordi Trophy will be merged. We were able to take a lot with us from last year. On the Trophy the shild changes and all is well. Thanks, or despite Corona, it was like a little fairy tale. A great performance in the Olympia Park in Bucharest, Romania. Open for everybody to win this Esther Jordi Trophy and the prize money, 10'000 Sfr. As you know, we were not allowed to hold the 3rd Esther Jordi Trophy in Basel last year, because of Corona. The Erlenmatt district gym in Basel would have been planned for us this year to play the Esther Jordi Trophy. Then something very special came up. In October this year the FIFTA Footballtennis world championship took place in Bucharest Romania. I was invited as a guest. In various discussions the chance opened up that we could hold the Esther Jordi Trophy 2021 in the Olympic Park "Sydney 2000 Izvorani" in Bucharest Romania. The best we could have. And, for Esthi only the very best is good enough. Everything went very seriously, quickly, uncomplicated and without any problems. Of course, everything under the strict protection concept of Corona. The great trophies made last year could be renewed with a small plate, so that the third and fourth edition of the Esther Jordi Trophy could be merged. It is impressive how the trophy with the picture of Esther Jordi in front of the IOC building in Lausanne presents itself, as if Esther Jordi were opening the door to the Olympics for all of us. And so, because of Corrona, we officially played the 2020/2021 edition in this very beautiful Olympic Park. The place is quite comparable with Magglingen in Switzerland. Just great to be there. The small but strong organizing committee did a wonderful job before and during the international event. Starting with the accommodation, the food, the referees missions, the warm fair play, the already proud, strong smart Footballtennis stars on and outside the field. And also of course under the eyes of the strict requirements of the Corona specialists. Nobody came into the Olympia Park without a corona test. The vaccinations with the certificate were not enough. And anything without spectatures. The ghost games deserve the title; Corona Health Games. Marked on the Trophy, too. Because of Corona, there were also lots of cancellations. Finally nobody from Switzerland was there. Except Beatrice Born and me in the OC. In Germany we launched a big appeal with our media partner. Unfortunately, there were players but didn't come because of Corona. Last-minute cancellations also came from Montreal and Mexico. Hopefully that will change in the future.
On Saturday, November 27th, 2021, the women and men categories played the qualification for the open places in the final in two halls. (Wildcards)
On Sunday, November 28th, 2021, the final tournament with 8 women and 8 men fights for the prize money of Sfr. 10,000. and the Esther Jordi Trophy. 2020/2021. Enclosed you will find the detailed results and the fimal ranking list for women and men. The technology makes it possible that we can watch the two finalgames (women and men) on YouTube at any time.
Women: Annamarie Gherghel - Florina Chiar
Men: Razvan Vornicu - Norbert Varo
Here the link
Men final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jhQWeJXNw4
Women final: https://youtu.be/ioxgcX3arw8
The level is already quite high and it will continue to improve every year. We say in short; everything that is possible in Tennis, we can do the same way too! We are now looking forward to the 5th edition of the Esther Jordi Trophy 2022. The location has not yet been determined. A nice invitation for the Esther Jordi Trophy 2022 is available from Montreal.
For sure we will come back home to Basel sooner or later again. The vision for Basel is, that after the Swiss Indoors in Tennis, Footballtennis should be played one week later, with the same high quality. At this point, we would like to thank everyone who has done a great job in realizing this little fairy tale in 2021, under the most difficult circumstances. Thank you so much and see you, even more successful, 2022.
The 5th Esther Jordi Trophy from 19./20. Nov. 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark
For a long time everything looked like we would have a chance to do something with Footballtennis at the Football World Cup in Qatar. But everything was a bit uncertain and the contacts in Qatar with the World Cup are not very strong. It was a great offer from the Danish Football-Tennis Association and we were delighted to be able to place the 5th Esther Jordi Trophy in the hands of the two Friberg sisters. They will do the very best for Esther. And, the football-tennis family absolutely needs to get a little closer together. The conditions are not easy this year either. Corona is still in the back of our minds. In particular, also the Club of the Esther Jordi Trophy was not a very big help. Thomy Beckmann with kidney problems and I with a burst appendix are still recovering from the disease. We are happy that everything is going well. Copenhagen, here we come. It's all about the prize money and the wonderful Esther Jordi Trophy. What the Oscar is for the film world, we have our very special trophy.
Thank you for your support. Together we write history and we know that the path leads us to theOlympics.
Josef Rothenfluh
Esther Jordi Trophy. P.O- Box 377 2543 Lengnau Switzerland
WhatsApp Josef Rothenfluh, Switzerlnd (0) 79 695 65 35